1940s
Overrated: Giants
Underrated: Cardinals
The 1940s as a whole get a pass for the war years, as the amount of potential attendees was in flux constantly through this period. Nevertheless, the 1944 Cardinals went 105-49 with fifth-place attendance (the pennant-winning Browns across town were in sixth-place; 1944 may be the only year both pennant winners were below-average in attendance), while the Giants led the NL in attendance that year off a 67-87 record. War may explain it away, but it’s still a big gap.
Fortunately for our modern understanding, the cavalcade of books about the war years has moved the spotlight off popular teams onto good ones, and the Cardinals were nothing if not loaded with talent. Of the decades prior to expansion, this is the only one for which I’m comfortable in saying that the stream of historical narrative has adjusted properly.
The Hardball Times
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